This
Week: The
Nebraska baseball team (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten) kicks off the 2013 season with seven
straight road games, including four games this weekend in the state of
California to open the year.

The Huskers open the 2013
campaign in Bakersfield, Calif., on Friday with a 5 p.m. (CT) game with the CSU
Bakersfield Roadrunners at Hardt Field. The Roadrunners hold a 3-2 advantage in
the all-time series, while the teams split a two-game series last year in
Lincoln, as the third game in the series was cancelled due to rain.

Nebraska's West Coast
trip continues on Saturday when it heads south down Interstate 5 to Fullerton,
Calif., for a double header with the No. 22 Cal State Fullerton Titans. Coming
off their 26th Big West Conference title and their 21st-straight NCAA
Tournament appearance, the Titans host the Huskers for a pair of games starting
at 4 p.m. (CT) at Goodwin Field. The Huskers are 0-2 all-time against the
Titans, as Fullerton won at home, 9-7 in 1984, and held on to a 5-4 win over
the Huskers at Rosenblatt in the opening round of the 2001 College World
Series.

NU's weekend comes to a
close on Sunday with a trip to Dedeaux Field on the campus of Southern
California for a 3 p.m. (CT) meeting with the Trojans. It will be the first
meeting between the Huskers and Trojans since 2005 and the first time the teams
have met in Los Angeles since 1984. Nebraska holds a 2-1 advantage in the
all-time series, with both wins coming in Los Angeles in 1979 and 1984.

On
the Radio: Fans
across Nebraska and around the world can listen Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle
call all of the action on the Husker Sports Network - including KLIN 1400 AM
and 94.5 FM in Lincoln - and on the Internet at Huskers.com or the Official
Husker App. A complete list of HSN affiliates can be found on page 14

Huskers Aim for NCAA
Tournament in 2013
Head
Coach Darin Erstad begins his second season in Lincoln in 2013 after leading
the Huskers back to the postseason with a
conference tournament appearance in 2012 for the first time since the
2008 season.

A trip
to the Big Ten Tournament was a step in the right direction a year ago, but was
short of the team's ultimate goal of an NCAA Regional bid and beyond.

At the
plate, the Huskers blossomed under the direction of Erstad and Associate Head
Coach Will Bolt.

The
Huskers led the Big Ten Conference in six categories, including home runs (47),
RBIs (375), runs (413), total bases (916), on-base pct. (.384) and slugging
pct. (.445).

The
Huskers also made noise on the national scene, as they ranked in the top-20
nationally in seven categories, including top-10 rankings in both batting
average and scoring.

After
hitting .270 as a team in 2011, the Huskers hit .315 in 2012 to rank eighth in
the country. The Huskers also ranked eighth nationally in scoring with 7.1 runs
per game after scoring 5.4 runs a game in 2011.

With a
more disciplined approach at the plate, NU had 106 fewer strikeouts than it had
in 2011, while playing three more games in 2012. The Huskers also produced 150
more hits, drove in 107 more runs and hit 17 more home runs to lead the Big Ten
with 47 home runs. No other team in the league hit more than 38 homers.

Three
Huskers were named first-team All-Big Ten, including shortstop Chad
Christensen, outfielder Rich Sanguinetti and designated hitter Michael
Pritchard, all of whom return for the 2013 season. Overall, eight Huskers
earned All-Big Ten honors across the first, second and third teams.

Nebraska
returns nearly all of its offensive firepower from a year ago. Out of 15
offensive categories, the Huskers return last season's leader in 12 of the
categories. Departed senior Richard Stock led the squad in doubles (20) and
triples (3) a season ago, while fellow 2012 senior Kale Kiser led the team in
walks (38).

On the
mound, Nebraska staff's continues to grow under the tutelage of Ted Silva. Silva's
proven approach was a change in philosophy for NU's arms last year and while it
took some adjustments early, success on the mound started to show in the second
half of the season.

Compared
to the first 12 games of Big Ten play, the NU pitching staff gave up 13 fewer
runs in the final 12 game of Big Ten action, while also surrendering few walks
and producing more strikeouts. Opponents hit .307 at the plate in the first
half of the conference season, but just .293 over the final 12 games of the
year.

Out of
the 14 players who saw action on the mound a year ago, nine return, including
four pitchers who started four or more games. Silva brought in nine new
pitchers as well, which should breed plenty of competition on the mound.

Huskers Amp Up Schedule in
2013
The Nebraska baseball is
set to play one of the tougher schedules in the county during the 2013 season.
The Huskers will play 18 games against 2012 NCAA Tournament teams, including
two games against 2012 College World Series qualifier Arkansas at Hawks Field.
The series with the Razorbacks marks the third straight year that the Huskers
have hosted a CWS team from the previous season, as UCLA visited Lincoln in
2011 and California split a four-game series at Hawks Field last season.

Nebraska has four teams
on its 2013 schedule who are ranked in one of the four preseason polls,
including Arkansas, who is ranked No.1 in the country in three polls.

After playing 31 homes
games in 2012, the Huskers are set to host 21 games at Hawks Field in 2013,
while playing 31 true roads games and two neutral site games at the TD
Ameritrade Classic in late April. Head Coach Darin Erstad and his staff worked
hard on setting up challenging schedule that gets the team ready for not only
the Big Ten schedule, but to also make a return to the NCAA Tournament for the
first time since 2008.

Nebraska is scheduled to
play 19 of its first 24 games on the road, including four games in the Southern
California area to open the season.

Vogt of Confidence
Prior to the start of the
2013 season, Head Coach Darin Erstad announced the senior Dylan Vogt will be
the team's closer.

Vogt may not be a typical
closer though, as the Omaha native may come into the game in the sixth or
seventh innings if needed.

Vogt became arguably the
top arm in the Husker pen last season, as he pitched 53.2 innings over 25
appearances, while producing a blistering 1.84 ERA.

While striking out 34 and
walking just 14, Vogt gave up just five extra base hits all season, including
no home runs.

On Friday, Feb. 8, Vogt
was one of 75 players named to the NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch
List. He was one of four Big Ten pitchers selected, joining Ohio State's Josh
Dezse, Illinois' Reid Roper and Northwestern's Kyle Ruchim.

Fantastic Freshmen
Second baseman Pat Kelly
earned four freshman All-America accolades in 2012, the most for any Husker
freshman in school history. Previously, Matt Hopper collected the most awards
following a freshman season with three in 2000, when he was honored by Collegiate
Baseball, Baseball America and Baseball Weekly.

A native of Red Wing,
Minn., Kelly was a first-team freshman All-American by both Baseball America
and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He was a second-team
freshman All-America selection by Perfect Game and was named to Collegiate
Baseball freshman All-America list.

Freshman teammate Kyle
Kubat was also one of 32 starting pitchers named a Collegiate Baseball freshman
All-American.

Kelly's and Kubat's
selections marked the first time since 2005 that the Huskers had a player earn
freshman All-America honors, as pitchers Johnny Dorn and Tony Watson were each
picked by Collegiate Baseball and Dorn was a first-team pick by Baseball
America.

New Year, New Streak?
Last season, Michael
Pritchard put together one of the top individual performances at the plate, as
he rattled off a 25-game hitting streak.

Pritchard tied Derek
Dukart for the third-longest hitting streak in NU history at 25 games.

The streak started in the
Huskers' Big Ten opener against Illinois on March 23, when the Pritchard
produced two hits. It came to an end on May 11 in NU's series opener against
Minnesota at Hawks Field.

Pritchard notched at
least a pair of hits 10 times during the streak, including three or more hits
twice.

Teammate Richard Stock
also put together quite a streak of his own at 21 games, marking the first time
in school history that a pair of Huskers produced hit streaks of 20 or more
games in the same season.

Francis Collins holds the
NU school record with a 38-game hitting streak in 1996, while Ken Ramos is
second with a 28-game streak in 1987.

For his efforts,
Pritchard was named a 2012 third-team All-American by the NCBWA and was a 2013
preseason second-team NCBWA All-American selection.

Take it for the Team
Senior infielder Bryan
Peters enters the 2013 season ranked fourth on Nebraska's career list 43 HBP.

Peters should easily move
to the No. 3 spot in 2013, and possibly have a chance at moving to the No. 2
spot on the all-time list.

In 2012, Kale Kiser moved
to third on the all-time list with 46 HBP after getting hit 14 times during his
senior season.

DJ Belfonte (2007-10)
sits second on the career list with 59 HBP and Daniel Bruce (2002-05) holds the
NU career record with 67 HBP.

The Bolt Effect
The Husker offense saw
major improvement under the direction of Associate Head Coach Will Bolt.

Looking at NU's numbers
in 2012, compared to its offensive output in 2011, the Huskers were a
drastically improved team.

Nebraska struck out 106
fewer times, walked five more times, produced 150 more hits, scored 114 more
runs, drove in 107 more runs, hit 45 points higher as a team at .315 and had
saw its team on-base percentage go up 25 points.

Heading West Early
The Nebraska baseball
team will open its season in the state of California for the third time in
program history on Friday and the first time since 2010. NU started the 2010
campaign with a four-game series at Fresno State, where the Bulldogs took
3-out-of-4.

The first time NU open
the season in California was in 2008 when it visited the Stanford Cardinal. The
two teams split a double header to start the year, before Stanford won the
series with a win in game three the following day.

Draftees on 2013 Roster
Five members of the 2013
Husker baseball team have previously been selected in the Major League Baseball
Draft, including Kash Kalkowski, who has each been picked twice.

Huskers Picked Second by
League Coaches
The Big Ten coaches have
picked Nebraska to finish second out of the league's 11 teams in 2013. One
senior and a pair of Husker juniors were also named to the 'Players to Watch
List', including senior right-handled pitcher Dylan Vogt, as well as junior
outfielder Michael Pritchard and junior right-handed pitcher Brandon Pierce.

Indiana was picked as the
league favorite by the coaches. The Hoosiers finished second in both the
regular-season standings and at the conference tournament to the Purdue
Boilermakers.

NU Signs Versatile Class
Nebraska's 2013 signing
class includes a talented group of 12 prep players and one junior-college
transfer.

The 13-player signing
class hails from eight different states throughout the Midwest, including a
group-high four players from Minnesota. Nebraska also signed a pair of
standouts from both Iowa and Colorado, while adding one future Husker each from
Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and South Dakota.

Nebraska's coaching staff
assembled an athletic class, as multiple players have to ability to play
multiple positions or pitch.

The class contains nine
players that are ranked in the top-1,000 by Perfect Game, including a six
top-500 prospects and one top-20 player. 10 of the prep standouts are regarded
as top-20 players in their state, including five who are tabbed as a top-five
prospects.

Huskers Across the
Country
The 2013 Huskers hale
from 10 different from all across the nation. Nebraska natives make up 16 of
the 35 players on the 2013 roster, while Texas has the second most
representatives at five. Other states with more than one player include, Colorado
(3), Iowa (2), Minnesota (2), Missouri (2) and South Dakota (2).